ABSTRACT
The balance of scientific evidence indicates that the world is facing significant risks associated with the potentially damaging consequences of climate change (Garnaut Report, 2008). The international responses have been the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The UNFCCC classified its ratifying countries into two major groups: Annex I countries, consisting of 41 industrially developed countries, and non-Annex I countries, comprising 151 developing countries. According to its ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities’ principle, the UNFCCC mandates that Annex I countries take the lead in combating climate change. This principle has been used as a basic guide to construct the burden-sharing for developed and developing countries to clean up global anthropogenic pollution. The Kyoto Protocol is an international regulatory response under which almost 200 countries agreed to strive to decrease carbon dioxide (CO
2 ) emissions.
